Device for a flare

Claim 1

A parachute-supported device containing a combustible composition and constituting part of a projectile to which projectile is imparted a high spin velocity about its lengthwise axis when fired from a gun barrel and from which the device is separated when the spin velocity of the projectile is reduced below a predetermined value, in combination with a braking device, said braking device comprising: a cylindrical body member; a plurality of flaps each of which being composed of two superimposed and secured to each other layers of form-retaining sheet material having a curvature substantially matching the circumferential curvature of said body member; and a pivot means for pivotally mounting each of said flaps on said body member, each of said pivot means including a pivot pin extending transversely of the lengthwise axis of said body member, the two layers of each flap straddling at one end the respective pin and envelope the same, said pins constituting pivot axes for pivotal movements of the flaps between an inactive position in which the flaps are folded upon the circumferential surface of the body member and a spread-apart braking position in which the flaps define an angle with said surface, the flaps being in said inactive position prior to the application of a spin velocity to the projectile and in said braking position when the projectile is in flight due to the centrifugal force then acting upon the flaps; the aerodynamic configuration of said flaps being such that the differential between the centrifugal forces acting upon opposite sides of the flaps does not exceed the inherent bending resistance of the material of which the flaps are made.